Let's Explore Patoka Lake - French Lick #Indiana

[Erna_LaBeau]

One beautiful afternoon, we hung out along side the freeway in French Lick, Indiana. We decided to walk to the beach. The area where we parked has abnormal beach with many debris scattered all over mainly pieces of asphalt and finally we walked to some kind of asphalt road with two solid yellow line in the middle. Hubby and I looked at each other it might explain the pieces of asphalt debris. For whatever reason the road got lost in time and most of the road is now under the lake and the new road was built about 1000 feet away.

Caption: Asphalt debris (by LG @Erna_LaBeau )

Caption: Unused asphalt road with 2 yellow solid lines in the middle (by LG @Erna_LaBeau )

Caption: Abandoned road on the left and new road on the right with the railing (by LG @Erna_LaBeau )

This aroused our curiosity about this area and the lake. So we googled it to find out!

The Patoka Lake is the second largest reservoir in the US state of Indiana. It was made by the US Army Corps of Engineers as a joint effort with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The purpose of creating the Lake as a secure water supply and a method of flood control.

July 29, 1972 was the first day they started building for Patoka Reservoir. The construction finished in 1978 and the lake was full with water by August 20, 1980.

The Lake is scattered across Dubois, Crawford, and Orange Counties in Southern Indiana. When Patoka Lake was made in the late 1970s three towns disappeared: Ellsworth, Eaton, and Newton Stewart, they where once home to families and farms and now sit at the bottom of the lake. The lake’s deepest part is 52 ft with approximately 26,000 acres of land and water, the water alone is 8,800 acres.

Patoka Lake is a great place for photography as it is famous for beautiful lake shores. It hosts a large campground with over 500 camping sites. Other facilities include boat ramps, fishing areas, ice fishing, disc golf course, hiking/bicycling trails, picnic shelters, swimming areas, waterskiing zones, a cross-country skiing, hunting areas, etc.

Caption: Beautiful sunset view of the lake (by LG @Erna_LaBeau )

Caption: Enjoying the beach with my fur baby (by LG @Erna_LaBeau )

Some of the benefits of the Lake to surrounding communities are generated revenue and preventive flood damage.

All the info above were collected from different sources online.

There you go, a very interesting story about Patoka Lake. If you have a chance to visit Indiana, this is one place you can add into your bucket list.

Info about Patoka Lake and it’s accessibility can be viewed here:

https://visitindiana.com/things-to-do/54923-patoka-lake

I hope you enjoy reading it and have a great weekend!

[JordanSB]

This place looks amazing, @Erna_LaBeau !

All they need now is a playground and this place will have it all! Are there many benches or seating options as you hike?

[ErmesT]

Beautiful post, and beautiful lake @Erna_LaBeau , even if, when I started to read you writing about pieces of asphalt in the beach, my heart has lost a few beats.

I searched for the lake in Google Maps , then I started to move around looking for the dam. The view of the dam, and the hilly landscape reassured me. I was not faced with a tragedy like the one I have told here, but simply with the creation of a large reservoir of water, a beautiful lake with small ports along the coast, like Patoka Lake Marina . An idyllic and reassuring place, where I would certainly like to spend a holiday.

Thanks again for the post, and for adding one more piece of “virtual knowledge” in this community

[Erna_LaBeau]

@JordanSB we were just along side the freeway not at the actual park I would imagine they do have benches and playgrounds inside the park we did not go in due to the entry fee.

[Erna_LaBeau]

@ErmesT I imagine how I felt when the first time I saw those asphalt debris and a piece of unused road with double solid line in the middle. We walked further trying to get the answer we did not check google maps about the location till we got back to the van. In one point it relieved my feeling but sad it took three towns to create the reservoir but it helps in the long run to control floodwaters.

[OlgaKlimchik]

@Erna_LaBeau Your place has reminded me our Minsk sea. In spite of the fact I showed this place so picturesque in my post (and it is really such), several villages were destroyed during the construction of reservoir. People were given different places to live, but ancient cemeteries are still there, under the water.

[Erna_LaBeau]

@OlgaKlimchik I guess they did what they have to do for good reason. Thanks for stopping by!